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ABC Anchor Woodruff, Cameraman Hurt in Iraq Blast

ABC News Co-anchor Bob Woodruff speaks to television critics in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 21, 2006.
Frederick M. Brown
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ABC News Co-anchor Bob Woodruff speaks to television critics in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 21, 2006.

NEW YORK (AP) - ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured Sunday when the Iraqi Army vehicle they were traveling in was attacked and an explosive device went off.

The two journalists were with U.S. and Iraqi troops near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad, ABC News President David Westin said. Both suffered serious head injuries and were in stable condition following surgery at a U.S. military hospital in the area, the network said.

"We take this as good news, but the next few days will be critical," Westin said in a statement. "The military plans to evacuate them to their medical facilities in Landstuhl, probably overnight tonight."

Woodruff and Doug Vogt, an award-winning cameraman, had been embedded with the 4th Infantry Division. They were wearing body armor and helmets when the device exploded, but they were standing up in the hatch of the Iraqi armored vehicle, exposed to the shrapnel, the network said. No one else was hurt in the explosion.

ABC said the men were traveling in the Iraqi mechanized vehicle to get the perspective of the Iraqi military.

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